The Nina Foundation wants to offer a more professional approach by stimulating the scientific approach, financial support  and amplify the knowledge about the Angelman Syndrome.

In 1965 Harry Angelman described three children having characteristics belonging to  the syndrome, named after him. He noticed that all children walked in a specific way, that they hardly talked, if at all, suffered from epilepsy, had a laughing face and often laughed. For a long time, many doctors thought that it was a very rare illness and most of them did not believe in the syndrome. The syndrome, as described in 1965 by Dr. Angelman was confirmed in 1987. Researchers at the University of Florida discovered a common genetic anomaly in a group of patients who met the description by Dr. Angelman. They discovered that those patients were missing a piece of chromosome out of the long range of  DNA of the mother.

Exact data of the syndrome are still missing but  it appears that one out of 10,000 to 1 out of 20,000 babies is born with the Angelman Syndrome. It is affecting both boys and girls.